REVITALISATION OF THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN UNDERGROUND SYSTEM IN PULA

Breda Bizjak

Project’s primary focus lies on two level underground shelters under the central hill Kaštel where the Historical and Maritime Museum of Istria is situated. It affirms military heritage as an integral part of fortified heritage and as a significant agent for its preservation, the improvement of the museum’s activities and the enrichment of public space and the city’s cultural attractions.

This project is based upon the assumption that by critically valorising and planning the use of cultural heritage, there is a possible counterpoint to the increasingly strong processes of globalisation and the touristification of cultural heritage that are almost unavoidably eroding local, regional, and even national identity, merging such into a uniform, global one. This project aims at a consideration of cultural heritage not only as a tourist product providing the economic conditions for the physical preservation of structures, but as a benefactor to the local community and urban regeneration. Furthermore, the function of the underground system was that of an infrastructural communication network as well as of a museum’s additional content. The interactive relationship between the underground and above-ground communication systems has been recognized as an important link in the refinement of public space.

A once forgotten underground shelter system became a frequently visited destination as an exceptional space due to its origin, and as a refuge from atmospheric conditions, an access to the fortress, and as a shortcut to another part of the city as well as an alternative exhibition space. The establishment of vertical communication between the tunnel and the fortress facilitated access for visitors with mobility difficulties, older generations and small children. The museum recorded a significant increase in attendance in just its first four months after an elevator was added to it.

Breda Bizjak SI

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